After the Australian’s Government report ‘Am I ever going to see you live again?‘ inquired about the challenges and opportunities within the live music industry in March last year, it has been announced that a new not-for-profit organisation has been formed. Australian Music Venue Foundation launched on March 13th in hopes to help sustain and represent grassroot music venues throughout Australia, similarly to Music Venue Trust in the UK and co-founder of Music Venue Trust Mark Davyd is involved with AMVF as a key advisor.
Music Venue Trust has represented grassroot music venues across the UK for over 10 years and acts to protect, secure and improve grassroot music venues for the benefit of the venues, upcoming artists and communities. On their website, they have an ‘Artist Pledge’ which asks artists to “pledge that their future success will acknowledge where they came from and contribute a small amount of money back into the grassroot sector, if and when they reach arena and major festival level.” It also mentions, “We want to ensure that the talent pipeline is supported, offering opportunities to a wide range of aspiring musicians from across the UK, so that everyone who dreams of being a musician feels that is a possibility for them.”
The Australian government’s report found that ‘the live music industry forms a critical part of Australia’s wider cultural and creative industries which contribute $21.8 billion to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product and employ nearly 500,000 people.‘ Although, those who work in music on average earn less and sometimes have second jobs to help pay for their neccessities, in 2024 in New South Wales, 90.9% of respondents who work in the industry agree that live music can be a powerful form of cultural expression, especially in marginalised groups and they value music making as well as it’s economic benefits.
Annabelle Herd from the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) said, “Live performance is an absolutely critical means for recording artists to connect with fans and grow their audiences; small venues are a critical starting point for new artists; big venues, area stage and festival stages featuring major local and international artists are critical discovery platforms… and touring and live performers drive streaming and vice versa.” She mentioned that the ‘biggest challenge… is that fewer Australians are listening to local music, whether live or recorded, via streaming radio or physical formats‘.
The Australian Music Venue Foundation, which was founded by Tam Brookes (Jive Bar Owner/Operator in Adelaide), Howard Adams (Chair of Australian Live Music Business Council), Harley Evans (Moshtix) and Mardi Caught (The Annex), will hopefully slow down the volume of grassroot venues that are being shut down and help them to thrive again. In only 3 years from the start of the pandemic, OneMusic registered a loss of more than 1,300 music venues and stages which means there is 1/3 less small to medium sized venues for new artists to perform at.
Is this the change we need to see in Australia or do we need even more support to keep live music going?
Keep up to date with AMVF on their Instagram here.
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